Change speed mechanism



April 16, 1.935. F. M. vANDERvooRT 1,998,034

CHANGE SPEED MEGHANISM Filed July 1s, 1953 2 sheets-Sheet 1 Zijll", l

"lll/1111111l/l//l//llll/l/ ATTORNEY April 16, 1935. F. M. vANDERvooR-r CHANGE:v SPEED MECHANISM Filed July 18,A 1953 2 sheets-Sheet 2 J4 35 4 Je ull I 18 ao Y 5 5,@16 z2 d.

: a j J0 Z0 I 32 l INVENTOR fanc/S M. nderor ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 16, 1935 y l viJfNi'rlazD STAT-Es PATENT OFFICE CHANGE srEED MEcnANIsM Francis M. Vandervoort, Cleveland, Ohio.. assignor to The White Motor'Company, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application July` 18, 1933, Serial No.1680,943

2Claims. (Cl. 'i4-'333) 'Ihis invention relates to change speed mechain an aperture in the rear wall of the casing I6 nisms, and more particularly to change speed` byvmeans of aball bearing I3. Secured upon the mechanisms for automotive vehicles. rear end of the shaft I6 there is a ange mem- It is an object of this invention to .provide a ber I9 through which the shaft i6 is connected 3 simple and eiiicient change speed mechanism ot with the drivingl mechanism of the vehicle upon 5 fthe constant-meshgear type. which-thefgear box is installed.V The gear I6 It is a. further object of thisinvention to promeshes with a gearY 2liV rigidly aiiixed upon a vide a compact relatively short four-speed change countershaft 2i mounted below the driven shaft speed mechanism of the type above denned. I6 and supported in ball bearings 22 mounted It is a further object oi this invention to pro in the end walls of the casing I Il. Aillxed upon 10 vide an arrangement; of gearing for producing a the countershaft 2| adjacent the gear 2D, there reverse drive whichcan be employed in conjuncis a gear 23 which meshes lwith a gear 24 rigidly tion with a forward speed gearing of the slidingvaffixed upon a reverse shaft 25. The reverse clutch type to secure a compact change speed shaft 25 is supported at itsl forward Yend in a x5 gearing 0f relatively short length. web l2li formed in the forward end of the casu,v

It is a further object of this invention to proing I by means of a ball bearing 21, andat its vide a change speed gear box having a plurality rear -end inthe rear wall of the casing I0 by of readily accessible connections fortaking oi! means of a second ball bearing21.

power.

l With an object of providinga plurality of conl Other objects will appear in the following denections for attaching mechanisms for driving 20 scription of an embodiment ofthe invention, auxiliary units such as pumps and Winches, the when read in connection with the accompany` countershaft 2l and the reverse shaftl25 are coning drawings in which: `structed so'as to protrude through the rear wall of Figure 1 is a sectional view 0i a change speed' the casing "Land the protruding portions formed g5 vsenr box. thejsection being taken 0n line l-l with keyways 2i! and threads .29 designed to fa- 25v of Figure 2. n cilitate the attachment thereto of power take-off Figure 2 consists 0f a side elevation oi the'gear mechanism. When not employed for the transbOX shewn in Figure 1 with a pari, 0f lthe easing mission of power, the protruding lportions of the broken away. and of a sectional view or a shiitcountershaft 2| and the reverse shaft 25 are lng mechanism used in commotion with the housed within caps 30 removably secured to the 30 Gear bex f f rear wall of the casing I0.by screws 30a.l Figure 3 is a detail view of a swinging member The countershaft 2| is equipped with three mounted in the upper part ofthe gear box. gears 3|, 32 and 33 rigidly aiiixed thereto which Figure 4 is a' Sectional View 0f the 82er bOX mesh with three constantly driven gears 34, 35 taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1, and f' A and 36 rotatably mounted upon the driven shaft 35 Figure 5 is a sectional view of the gear box le. Splined upon a sleeve 31 non-rotatably taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1. mounted on the forward end of the shalt. I6, Referring t0- the drawings the Speed change there is a clutch member b, the inner splined mechanism therein illustrated comprises i'-W0 teeth 38 of which are designed forengagement 4gy units, a gearbox A anda shifting mechanism B. with teeth 39 formed on gear I5 and with teeth 40 The Sear bOX A is e9nstrueied With 8. housing 4i!v formed on gear 34. Splined directly upon the consisting of a main casing I0, a slotted cover il shaft I6 intermediate the gears 35 and 36, there for the casing l0. and en auxiliary easing i2 is a second clutch member .c the inner Splined Which eneioses the upper Dart 0i e shifiingmeehteeth` 4I oi' which are designed for engagement anism a". Extending into the forward end of i with teeth 42 on gear 35 and with teeth 43 on gear 45 vthe casing I0 andsupp'orted by a. bearing I3, 36. The clutch member c is formed withagear there is a driving shaft I4 which when the gearv wheel 44 designed'to mesh with a gear wheel 45 box is installed within a motor vehicle is driven slidably Isplined upon the reverse shaft y26. in 8 Conventional marmer'by the engine ofthe Assuming thatk in each instance the clutch l 5a vehicle. The inner end of the shaft I4 is formed `rnenbers b and c and the gear 45 initially oc- 50 with an integral gear I5 which is axially bored Icupy the positionsshown, four forward speeds and to provide a bearing for'an aligned drivenl shaft a single reverse speed areobtained as follows Il. The driven shaft I6 is lsupported at its for- First speed, by shifting theclutch member e ward end within the gear 'I5 by means of a roller in a rearward direction to bring its teeth 4I into bearing I1, and at its .rear end is supported withengagement with the teeth 43 on the gear 36, the 55 resulting drive being through gears I5, 28, 88 and 38 .Second speed, by shifting the clutch member uc in a forward direction to bring its teeth 4I into engagement with the teeth 42 on the gear 35, the resulting drive being through gears I8, 28, 82 and 85.

Third speed, by shifting the clutch member b in arearward direction to bring its teeth 38 into the teeth of the gear 44. on the clutch member "c, the resulting drive being through gears I5, 28, 28, 24, 45 and 44.

'I'he shifting mechanism "a" associated with the gear box comprises a shaft 48 mounted for longitudinal movement and rotatable oscillation within the casing I2. Secured upon the shaft 48 is a finger 41, the free end of which is formed for engagement between the bifurcated upper ends ofa fork 48 and members 48 and 58 mounted respectively on shifter rods 5I, 52 and 53 sup-l ported in bushings 54 mounted in the end walls of the casing I8. The shifter rod 5I is connected to the clutch b by means of the fork 48, and the shifter rods 52 and 53 to the clutch "c and the gear 45 by means of forks 55 and 58. Rotatably mounted within the casing I2 in concentric relation to the shaft 48, there is a cradle 51 formed with a slot 58 which receives the nnger 41 and with lugs 58 designed for engagement between the bifurcated ends of the members 48 and 58 and the fork 48. This cradle turns with the ilnger 41 and through the instrumentality ofthe lugs 58 acts to lock the shifter rods in neutral position except when operatively connected to the nger The shifting mechanism B comprises a casing 88, a shaft 8I winch is'connected to the shaft 48 associated with the gear box, and a shifting lever 82. The shaft 8 I is formed with a crank portion 8l, and is slidably and rotatably mounted in bearings 84 and 85 in the front and rear walls of the casing 88. The shifting lever 82 is mounted for universal movement in a cover 88 secured to the top of the casing 88, and is formed at its' lower end with a ball 81 which is engaged within a slotv in the lower portion of the crank 88 of the shaft 8|. Through thisarrangement the lever 82 when moved longitudinally causes the shaft 8I and the co-ordinated shafty 48 to be shifted l in a reverse direction, and when the lever 82 is moved transversely the shaft 8l and the co-ordinated shaft 48 are rotated in a corresponding direction.

l In effecting a speed change the shafts 8| and 48 are rotated through transverse movement of the lever 82 moving the finger 41 out of engagement with the upper bifurcated end of one of the members 48, 49, or 58 into engagement with the end of another of such members. The lever 82 is then moved forwardly or rearwardly to effect the speed change desired with a resulting longitudinal movement of the rods 8I and 48 and the 'finger 41 producing a longitudinal movement of the shifter rod connected to the finger, and shifting the associated parts of the gear box. In accomplishing such operation. the -cradle 51 is turned by the finger 41 to a position where one or the other of the lugs 58, or both of the lugs, depending upon the driving connection initiated, acts to lock in neutral positions, the shifter rod retaining such positions. It 'will be seen from an examination of the drawings that when the gear 45 on thereverse shaft is moved into mesh with the gear -44 on the clutchfc to initiate a reverse drive, the shifter rod 52 and consequently the gear 44 will be locked in neutral position by the lug 58 shown at the left in Figure 1.

By constructing the speed change gearing in the manner described, it` is possible to construct all the gears with helical teeth except the gears 44 and 45, and to thereby obtain a quiet drive in all forward speeds. By employing the gear combination 28, 24, 44 and 45 to produce reverse drive instead of a gear combination of conventional design, a considerable reduction in the length of the gear box is effected.

Although the foregoing description is necessarily of a detailed character, inorder that the invention may be completely set forth, it is to be understood that the specific terminology is not intended to be restrictive or confining, and that various rearrangements of parts and structural details may be resorted to without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as herein claimed.

What I claim is:

. 1. In a change speed mechanism for an automotive vehicle, a shaft, a plurality of gears disposed in concentric relation to said shaft and mounted for relative lrotation with respect thereto, a second shaft located at one side of said first named shaft, a plurality of gears fixed' on said second named shaft each meshing with one of the aforesaid gears associated with said rst named shaft, means for driving said second shaft,l two clutch members slidably and non-rotatably mounted on said first named shaft designed to connect such shaft with said nrst recited gears, said clutch members being mounted on opposite sides of a gear train formed by one lof the gears associated with said first named shaft and one of the gears fixed on said second named shaft, a gear fixed on one of said clutch members, a gear fixed on said second shaft opposite the other clutch member, and means for establishing a driving connection between said last named g'ear and the gear on said clutchy member comprising a third shaft located at one side of said rst and second named shafts, and

l'a pair of gears associated with said third shaft designed to mesh respectively with the last recited gear on said second shaft and the gear on said clutch member.

2. In a change speed mechanism for an automotive vehicle, a drivenshaft, three gears mounted in concentric relation to said driven shaft in such a manner as to be capable of relative rotation with respect thereto, two of the gears of the aforesaidgears being mounted closely together and the other gear being spaced from the closely associated two gears, a clutch member slidably and non-rotatably mounted upon said driven shaft between the aforesaid closely associated gears and the aforesaid other gear designed to separately connect said driven shaft with one of said closely associated gears and with said other gear, a second clutch member mounted on said driven shaft at the opposite side of said closely associated gears from said first named clutch member designed to connect said driven shaft With the other gear of said closely associated gears, a second shaft located at one side of said driven shaft, means for driving said second shaft, three gears fixed on said second shaft each meshing with one of the aforesaid gears associated with said driven shaft, a gear on said rst named clutch member, a fourth gear fixed on said second shaft opposite said second vnamed clutch member, a reverse shaft mounted adjacent said driven shaft and said second shaft, a gear fixed on said reverse shaft meshing with the aforesaid fourth gear on said second shaft, and a reverse gear slidably and non-rotatably mounted upon said reverse shaft arranged to be moved into and out of mesh with the gear'on said first named clutch member.

` FRANCIS M. VANDERVOORT. 

